Shots
by SleepyOwlWrites
Summary: Evie balances her past gang involvement with her current work while interacting with Chicago's finest detectives and getting into too much trouble. Mostly chronological one-shots.
1. Smoke and Sparks

Evie felt decidedly uneasy about the exchange.

She was quite certain that the only reason she'd been approved last minute to act as middle man for this gun deal was that the guy who vouched for her owed her one. Or two. The whole act seemed off-kilter, like this end of the crew had been knocked out and was spinning loose. Since Bravo had been made a mark by the cops, everyone was on edge. This was supposed to be the last deal in Chicago before the gang rolled out for fresher ground and greener cops. She fiddled with her phone and kept her face neutral.

Two of the undercover cops that were rolling up to do this deal with her were experienced, the other she didn't immediately recognize.

"You got what we want?" The one she knew as Dawson asked as soon as he didn't have to shout.

"Some. The rest I'll call in when you show me the cash."

He nodded at the others. They set down their bags. "It's all there."

Evie threw the cash a cursory glance before dialing On-three.

"Hey, call 'em in." Evie said as soon as the other end picked up. "My buyers are here."

"They're not coming." On-three sounded like he'd been saying that all morning. He probably had.

"What?" Evie knew it. The deal had been sour since the beginning. She wanted to kick something but that would be unprofessional. "Why not?"

"They smelled a rat - not you, actually - and have run scared. They wanna reschedule for next week."

"Which means never. Are you serious?" Evie didn't even bother hiding her frustration now. There wasn't any point.

"Yep." On-three's tone was carefully neutral.

Evie bit back some darling, colorful language that wouldn't help the situation at all but couldn't hold in her sarcasm as she retorted, "So I've spent my day off with my adrenaline going because I'm ready for this to finally go down but somebody flashed their tail feathers and now I have no guns to sell to the cops I've dragged out here because heaven forbid a gun deal goes down anywhere decent?"

Said cops looked at each other in varying degrees of surprise, though Evie got the feeling that they were restraining themselves tremendously.

"Uh, yes?" On-three had the decency to sound sheepish. "I wanted to call you earlier but it wasn't a sure thing until about five minutes ago."

"At least tell me that Dart has pulled everybody out."

"He's taking care of everything on his end, now you've gotta do the same. It's up to you what you wanna tell them, okay? Look, I gotta go kick those tail feathers. Just stand down. I'm sorry," he added right before ending the call.

Despite not being surprised at this turn of events, Evie was still pretty annoyed. She could have been sleeping. Maybe. She probably would've been all over town to hear what the birds were saying, but still. Too many things had been going wrong lately. She didn't like it. Bravo was out of reach now and while she was definitely going to make sure that someone was following his trail, she herself couldn't do anything further.

One of the cops, the younger one she didn't recognize, was the one to break the silence. "What's this about cops?"

"You sound so surprised," she said absently, still annoyed. "Something stunk in the wind so they pulled back. I bet you anything Bravo is having trouble with his boys from outside and they're not really sniffing in this direction. Which is good, because we can't get anywhere if he smells your metal, but bad because they're due to move on by the end of the week."

The silence resumed while nobody was being subtle about eying the others. Halstead, the last of the trio, stepped forward after too many seconds of no one saying anything. "So this can still go down. They're still interested, right? 'Cause we are." He was cute, in an arms-folded, stubborn kind of way.

"Of course," Evie answered lightly, wondering whether to just completely bust herself on them, since they were probably already thinking it. "I don't know if they'll let me run the show again, but yeah. They're still interested in selling. Especially since the gun trade has been so deadly lately and like I said, they're moving out soon." They definitely wouldn't let her run the show again and even if Dart had cleaned things up inside, Bravo would be already be gone by the time she contacted her way up the ladder. "I don't know why I'm pretending like it could still work. They might still be interested, but I know Bravo and he won't risk it."

"So, you're on our side." Dawson didn't really ask it, but Evie knew it was meant to be a question.

She give him a look, a little surprised that he asked it so soon. "Um, yeah. I'm sorry it didn't work out. I really wanted to catch these guys too."

Dawson shifted his stance, folding his arms. "What's your angle? Who do you work for?" Car doors slammed in the distance and Evie knew it was the sound of backup coming in for a closer look.

"I don't like the bad guys having guns?" Evie shrugged, knowing it wasn't the answer he wanted. "Can't just have people wandering the streets with them."

"You have one," The younger one pointed out, his other hand moving towards his. He looked like such a baby. Evie wondered how long he'd been in this elite gang of Intelligence. She should probably already know the answer to that.

"Of course I have a gun, I'm always running with wolves. I'm-" Evie's phone rang again. She sighed, but didn't walk away to answer it.

"What's up, MB?"

"Smoke and sparks at 31 Water E. If you're available."

The day could turn out to not be a complete waste of time after all. Evie looked around at the guys. "I am now. I guess I'll just bring my company with me."

On the other side, MB didn't even bother asking who the company was, which was typical. Evie appreciated her trust as it vastly reduced the amount of arguments she would have. "Hope you're all wearing 'cause it's about to be all lit up over here. Should have been fine, but Sixpence decided to get involved. Again."

Evie sighed. She was gonna kill that kid if he didn't make it happen for himself. "I distinctly remember telling him to wait on this and he's not completely stupid. What are we dealing with?"

"Too many to catch, but right now it's about not getting caught, either. If this were a raid proper, I wouldn't even be calling. Maybe next time you could send in people who know what they're doing. Sixpence is only good for surveillance."

"That's why you exist, MB. Meet me at the corner with whoever you've got, okay? I'm on my way."

MB ended the call and Evie looked at the now five cops who all had put their hands on their weapons. She didn't blame them. "I've got a guy in with the Grapes on Water St and he's in trouble, so I'm gonna go help out. This can't be the third time this month that we lose Boris and his Oxy."

"That kind of thing is left to the cops," Halstead immediately responded.

"How lucky then, that I have five of them here with me," Evie answered with a smile.

"You know about Boris' Oxy?" Dawson asked skeptically.

Evie didn't really need to be bringing them, but she doubted that they would just let her skip on out of there without some solid answers. "I just said that, didn't I? Since you're not really dressed for a shootout, you can call for it or borrow from me. I'm going either way."

They called. Partly, she thought, because they did believe that this was a job for the cops and partly because Voight probably just needed to shoot somebody.

On the way, with Ruzek - the young one - in her car presumably to keep an eye on her and his phone connected to the others, Voight asked the question Evie couldn't believe he hadn't already. "By the way, who the hell is calling you about making a drugs bust? If you're a fed, just say so."

"I'm not a fed. Why does everybody always assume that? I mean, I'd have to be the youngest fed ever, right? I'm not a fed. I'm employed by the feds, but I'm not one of them."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm a consulting investigator."

"I've never heard of that," Ruzek said, finally done inspecting her badge.

"Well yeah," Evie said, stashing it in her back pocket. "Of course not. It's just a title. I do a lot more investigating and information relay than working on specific cases. I couldn't do all that if I was just regular law enforcement. I'm like the ultimate undercover agent, in a way. I've got connections you all wish you had."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. We've got eyes in lots of places too."

Evie chuckled at Ruzek trying to make himself sound cool. "Honey, I hate to break your heart, but most of your informants also belong to my networks."

"They know better," Voight said, his voice sounding even rougher over the phone. "They belong to us or they get taken off the streets."

Evie imagined the sergeant and his detective in the other car were feeling very suspicious of her, if the look on Ruzek's face was anything to go by. "Look, I'm not trying to steal your jobs or your information. I'm on your side, okay? There are different levels of law enforcement for a reason. I'm just an anomaly; I'm a weird hybrid between CI and cop. I can't even say what I technically am in the system because it's so ridiculously complicated. Suffice to say, I have a badge and I have a gun, and I use them the same way you do, okay?"

Evie knew none of them would be satisfied with that answer, but they didn't push it just then. And thank goodness for that, because Evie really didn't want to get into it just then.

They arrived at the entrance to Water E. and Evie parked her SUV next to another just like it. "There are vests in the back if you want one."

"Don't you?" Ruzek seemed to be the type to ask simpler questions when he meant to ask harder ones. He opened the trunk and just shook his head at the array in front of him.

"Already wearing." Evie unzipped her jacket a little to reveal the super light Kevlar that Titus made for her. "Suit up." She made a note to get that vest back from him later. Titus was very particular about loaning out his gear. Evie wasn't sure why she was offering. The grizzled gear-maker was always happy to harp on anybody who did his work wrong.

Her phone buzzed. "Yeah, I'm here. Who else you got? Oh, this is gonna be a breeze. Stop frowning, you're getting older every time." It was a joke that MB was far too young to be that old.

Ruzek strapped his vest on with an expression of mild bewilderment. "You just keep bulletproof vests in your car at all times?"

"'Course," Evie replied, shoving extra ammo into the belt she'd already strapped on. From where they were she knew running was bound to happen more than shooting so she didn't even bother with a long gun. "Makes it easier for things like this to go down when we weren't expecting to be invited, you know?"

"Right." Ruzek tightened the straps and looked at her with that half-confused kind of awe that'd been decorating his face pretty much the whole time. "You are something else, you know that?"

"I know that. Tell me again later," Evie grinned at him, adrenaline already starting to flow again, "after we beat down the fire."

Voight and Halstead joined her and Ruzek and they all walked quickly towards the muted sounds of a violent household argument. A guy fell out of a first-story window and stared at them for a second before tearing off down the alley. Halstead immediately took off after him. Evie caught sight of MB through the window and Sixpence wrestling with somebody in the parking lot. Two more guys came around the corner and all of a sudden there was only gunfire and running.

Evie wouldn't have it any other way.

"You let a cop wear one of our vests? Titus is gonna kill you." MB shook her head as she held up the article like it'd been lying in radioactive goo or something. Her voice had no inflection, same as always.

"Who's Titus?" Halstead was just going to keep asking questions until he got some satisfactory answers, Evie knew it. Despite the constant barrage, her new respect for the detective's skills in action took precedence over annoyance, so she decided she could probably give him some answers.

"Ask something else," MB countered immediately, getting impatient with Evie's struggle in taking off her jacket. "I just got this for you and you've already got blood on it. Are you kidding me?"

"Sorry," Evie replied, unable to keep the lazy grin off her face even though her shoulder was burning. "I'll just wrap myself in plastic next time so as to keep my clothes pristine."

Voight and Dawson were watching them with critical eyes, like they had Intelligence x-ray vision or something. The latter had offered to call up a second ambo for Evie, but she'd refused. Given that she was the most injury-prone person most people have ever met, it was a miracle she'd gotten off with something so superficial.

"What does MB stand for?" Halstead asked next, leaning his gun on the truck he'd also been up against before moving over to assist in Evie's medical attention. In addition to his endless questions and scrutiny, Halstead was the sort of guy who had your back. It was a good thing to know, Evie mused.

She wasn't somebody who'd just automatically reject willing helping, so she let him support her for a second while MB divested her of the vest that was more like a corset after all that running. Evie's head spun for a moment while her body greedily sucked in air. Halstead lowered her onto the curb so MB could inspect injured shoulder. "Thanks," Evie said tiredly, the adrenaline of the morning having worn off some minutes ago.

"What does MB stand for?" Dawson prompted, now rather invested in the situation, apparently. "It's not like, Most Bullets or something, is it?"

Halstead rolled his eyes.

"Mockingbird," MB answered promptly, even though she'd been acting like nobody but Evie existed at the moment. She never showed it, but Evie knew she was proud of that name.

"Ow," Evie hissed, more as an automated response than out of actual pain as MB prodded her shouder. There was a dull ache in her muscles from being slammed against a brick wall and she wasn't actually sure where the bleeding was coming from. MB supplied her with the answer.

"Don't get shot next time," she rejoined in her signature monotone. MB was so businesslike at all times, which helped immensely with the job, but didn't endear her to many. Still, Evie knew she had a big heart along with that sharp tongue.

"So how long have you been chasing the Ouroboros gang?"

Evie supposed she really should have seen that question coming, but it took her by surprise anyway. MB glared - in monotone - and finished bandaging her shoulder. "Should maybe get stiches," she threw over her shoulder as she took her supplies away.

Halstead's question was quickly followed by Voight and Dawson offering up their own.

"A long time, then?"

"You have a history with them, or something?"

"Yeah," Evie ventured, levering herself up from the sidewalk, pulling on her coat to try and stall for time. It wasn't that cold out, but the questions facing her were hard ones to answer. Not so much because she was unwilling, but rather because there was a lot she couldn't really say. Unwanted shivers coursed through her body, an annoying reminder that slight blood loss was still enough to wear the body down regardless of how well she dealt with pain.

"You should probably go to the hospital," Dawson said reasonably, but she still wanted to punch him. While Evie thoroughly believed in getting medical attention when the situation called for it, she was already such a frequent flier there.

"What, and have Will give me the same lecture he always does? No thanks. I'll go when I actually get shot!" Evie called the last part in MB's direction. She was ignored, which was to be expected.

Halstead had retrieved his gun. "You know Will?"

Evie removed an empty cartridge from her belt to hand to MB when she returned. "What, doesn't he talk about me all the time? 'Yeah, this girl, man, she comes in all the time and one of these days she's not gonna be able to say that the other guy looks worse…that scares me.' I heard him telling another doctor that last time. You can tell him I'm sorry I worry him but I'm just too fond of him to stop coming."

Halstead nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm not gonna tell him that."

Evie shrugged, then winced, screwing up her face for a second. "No extraneous shoulder movements. Gotta remember that."

"You won't," MB intoned from her spot to the left, accepting the cartridge.

"I am aware, thank you, love," Evie aimed a kick in her direction.

Ocher and Nyx, the two kids that had initially responded to the scene with MB wandered over hesitantly. "So, Val wants us back and uh, we're gonna go. Are you coming with?"

Evie shook her head. "I gotta go see Chaucer first. You go and I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." They both skittered away, not being really comfortable around cops. Surprisingly, none of said cops tried to stop them or ask them anything. It was a small thing, but Evie could appreciate it. MB stopped in front of her and held up a finger.

"I will go and get stitches later, after I see Chaucer, MB."

She didn't move. Evie know this was about her well-being, but MB was so difficult sometimes. She could appreciate this sort of behavior so much more when MB was being stubborn about really anybody else.

Trying again, Evie grimaced and rephrased, "I will go now and see Chaucer later?"

MB finally moved away, a very small, yet very satisfied smirk appearing on her face.

"This is why we leave you at home when we go on raids!" Evie called after her, still planning on going to go see Chaucer first. He had already found what she needed and all she had to do was pick it up. It would take a few minutes and then she could go bother Will. Maybe. If there weren't so many other people involved, Evie would just drop in at Robin's clinic later that evening and skip the hospital altogether, even if it was likely to be crowded. But that wasn't really an option here, so she didn't bother bringing it up.

Voight, Dawson and Halstead were all still standing there looking at her. No doubt they had a million questions and Evie really couldn't blame them for wanting answers but she also had a million things to do and if she arrived home without getting her shoulder properly attended to, MB would kill her. There had to be a way to get everything done and at least partially satisfy everyone.

"Listen, boys, it's been fun, but I got things to do, okay?" Evie stuck her gun into her belt and smiled winningly.

"Why don't you come back with us? If you know stuff about Ouroboros, then you can help with our investigation. Plus, we need your statement about the gun deal and this bust." Voight sounded like he didn't expect to be refused.

"Isn't this your day off? That should give you plenty of time," Dawson added.

"Yeah," Halstead jumped in, "and I can take you to see Will first, if you want, since uh-"

"Since he's your brother, yeah I know," Evie finished for him.

"I was going to say since your friend seemed so insistent," Halstead protested, suddenly almost adorable. He seemed to be that guy who swung between being huggable and punchable.

"And you can tell us a little more about being a, what did you call it?" Ruzek appeared kind of out of nowhere to ask. "A consulting investigator? I noticed that can be shortened to CI. Coincidence?"

She had to go and involve real-deal cops and now she was dealing with the blowback. Granted, she almost always had to eventually, but the powers that be were generally happier when she involve no blues at all. Evie did like poking that bear once in a while, though. "Fine. But I'm driving my own car."

"Cool," Ruzek smiled. "I call shotgun."

* * *

A/N: I prefer my author's notes at the bottom, if they're going to exist at all. I'll just mention a couple of things. This is cross-posted, as most things are. Notes about Evie: she's 26. This is set vaguely in Season 2 or 3, but without complete canon. Adam is younger, everybody else is older. I'm not ruling out romance, but I have no plans for it currently. Evie might flirt with people accidentally - that's pretty much the only trait she shares with me. I don't usually take readers' preferences into account, but in this case, maybe.


	2. Connections

Evie hated police stations.

Not because she hated the police, but there was a feeling she got about them, like she was very aware of how she didn't belong. Most of the cops were there because they believed in the difference they made. They were there because they chose to be. Those men and women might have started off in some rough places, but there they walked around like avenging angels and they did belong.

"Hey, pain in my ass, where you been? Thought maybe you'd been killed or something." Platt had always been the same: a wicked tongue and a heart of gold. Or partly gold. MB hadn't quite got the knack of being unashamedly cruel while also somehow caring yet, but she reminded Evie a lot of the older cop.

Ruzek looked at her sideways, clearly amused and very curious as to how Platt knew her.

"Nah, I'm still kicking. You look a little different, but you wear your years well," Evie assured her with equal melodramatic zeal. "You still giving 'em hell?"

"Is there anything else to give?" Platt's face was just as unimpressed as ever when she turned back to her computer.

That woman had given her a lot, in both the hell and help departments. Evie couldn't help smiling fondly even though she'd also like to slap some emotion into her at times. "Nope."

"You two know each other?" Dawson wanted to know.

"Sadly," Evie answered, already beyond done being there. "Can we just get to the part where you ask me questions and I answer some of them in a partially satisfactory way so that I can get to what I want to be doing and you can get to hunting down information about me that I very much doubt you'll find?"

"It's true," Platt sounded out from her desk. "She doesn't exist."

"Sure," Voight responded, and it wasn't totally clear who he was responding to. He lead them upstairs, and with every step Evie disliked the situation more.

It too way too long to give her statement, like it always did. True, it was her day off, technically, but Evie had never been one to sit around and waste time. Unless someone forced her into a vacation, she was going to be working no matter what day it was.

"You look a little like you're about to bolt," Dawson mentioned, taking note of her unmasked distaste.

"I'd like to, but I do try not to run from cops. Sometimes it can't be helped," Evie shrugged, neutralizing her expression, "but I like you guys, so I'll stick around long enough to wear out your patience."

"You like us, huh?" Ruzek nodded, apparently pleased by this.

Evie slapped his chest lightly with the back of her hand. "And you like me too much. Cut that out. You don't even know me."

"I know you keep bulletproof vests and ammo in your car at all times. I know that you've been reading all of us since we met you, like you can see inside our heads. And," he leaned forward a little, "I know that you think Halstead is cute."

"Very impressive," Evie said drily, and gave him a thumbs up.

"So you do think he's cute?"

"Yeah, I think he's cute. Don't worry, I also think you're a badass." Evie flashed Halstead a sardonic smile and he raised his eyebrows.

"A cute badass?"

"They exist. I'm one." That line got a smile out of nearly everyone in the room. "Let's not bother with introductions, yeah? I know all your names, anyway."

Halstead leaned on his desk with his arms folded. "But we don't know yours. Which is weird, considering we've spent all morning together."

"I have a lot of names. Which one do you want?"

"How about your real one?"

Folded arms seemed to be the thing for these guys. She looked around at each of them, memorizing the way each of them returned her stare. "Evie."

"What about your last name?" Dawson followed up.

"Ayre. A-Y-R-E." Evie gave it up reluctantly, even though it wasn't something she didn't want them to know. It was just hard for her to give away her real name, even after all these years.

"Ayre?" Halstead blinked in surprise. "That's familiar."

Evie sighed. "I'm sure it is. And when you're hunting down my file, don't be surprised when there's nothing bad in it. It might be my real name but it's not my first one. Can we just go with Evie, please?"

"Evie it is," Voight ended the discussion, clearly ready to move on. "Let's get down to business. What do you know about the Ouroboros gang?"

Evie really didn't want to be there, she didn't want to spend time answering his questions, and yet it all made perfect sense since they were all after the same bad people. Just like with her name though, it was always hard to just dispense information. "Plenty," was all she could say at first.

"Come on, you gotta give us more than that," Halstead argued.

"Everything," she offered instead. "How's that?"

"Everything?" Dawson was obviously skeptical.

"A better question is what don't I know." She headed toward the white board that was still half-blank and grabbed a marker. "I'll skip the basics as I'm sure you know that already. Here's who you want to track down next, if you're looking for Bravo's immediate superior. No, I don't know where he is currently. Now, if you'll let me leave, I'll be happy to drop off some more information with one of you later today, after I've retrieved it. Okay?"

Nobody was very impressed or very pleased with her unwillingness to be very forthcoming, but they had to be used to it. She folded her own arms, mimicking the rest of them. "If it makes you feel better, I can have someone with better credentials give you a reassuring phone call of the legitimacy of my information."

Halstead moved toward her after Voight told Ruzek and Olinsky to go check out what she'd just written down.

"I'm gonna take her to Med now, to get that shoulder looked at."

"Fine." Voight had already moved on past this conversation and was heading into his office. "Make sure you get me that phone call."

Evie nodded before following Halstead downstairs and they made it all the way outside before she said, "I could just run off, you know."

"I'd catch you."

"I'm pretty fast."

"Mm-hm. I'd catch you. And we'd still be going to the hospital."

"Can we take my car?"

"Nope."

"Are you gonna drop me back off here so I can retrieve my car?"

"I'll just take you to see your guy, what's his name? Chaucer? Your code names are very interesting." Halstead was completely enjoying this. Evie did find him cute and also very punchable.

"No thanks."

"Hey," Halstead opened the passenger door for her and pinned her with a serious look. "Work with me and I'll work with you, okay?"

Evie considered this for a half-beat. "Yeah, okay."

"So how often do you go to the hospital, anyway?"

Why did they have to make conversation? Oh right, that's just the Halstead way. "Often enough."

"Will has never talked about you."

"Good, he doesn't need to expend any extra brainpower wondering how I get all my injuries."

"If you're more into investigating than detective-ing or whatever, how do you get so beat up that you need medical attention all the time?"

"Jay."

"Are we on a first name basis now? Cool."

"Jay, just spit it out."

"You were part of the Ouroboros, weren't you?"

"Yep."

He probably hadn't expected her to admit it straight out since he didn't say anything right after. They got to drive in silence for several blocks. "How long?"

"Was I in?"

"Have you been out."

"Ten years."

Jay looked at her briefly, confused. "Then how long were you in?"

Evie bit her lip in resignation. "Sixteen years, about."

Halstead looked at her with unreadable eyes while they sat at a red light. "You grew up in the gang? No wonder you said you know everything."

"It's not just a gang, though. It's an enterprise. It's an empire. It's a family business. You know that."

"I know that."

"I grew up in the family."

"How bad was it?"

Evie didn't answer that, letting the silence speak for her. Halstead didn't ask anything else, right up until they pulled into Med's parking lot. "So-"

"Will doesn't ask me about my scars." She said very pointedly. "So he doesn't know anything about my scars. And I'm really not interested in talking to you about them either."

"Fair enough," Jay acknowledged. "Let's go get you stitched up, okay?"

Evie got out of the car and didn't bother saying anything else. Underneath all the questions and the suspicion, she could tell Jay cared. Also, he was now Jay in her head instead of Halstead, just like Will was Will too. She had always connected too easily.

"This can't be good," was what Will said when he saw them. Jay just smiled harmlessly and Evie wished once again that she had just chosen to sleep in.

"All set. Try to go the rest of the week without coming in again, okay?" Will's smile was perhaps the only thing Evie liked about coming to the hospital. The staff were all very good and she liked them well enough, but she always bolted out as soon as she could. Will though, she could stomach being around a little longer. She had told him once that she was sorry for being that younger sibling that couldn't stay out of trouble. He said that as long as she needed a big brother to patch her up, he'd be there. Will was a good guy and she could see that his brother was the same way.

"I'll do my best." Evie smiled back easily. Will clapped Jay on the shoulder and pats her on the head fondly before leaving to take care of other patients.

Jay watched her pull on her jacket with a thoughtful gaze. "He cares about you."

"He's a good guy," was all she said.

"He is," Jay agreed.

"I see that soft smile runs in the family." She hopped up from the bed and cracked her neck. "Must be a Halstead thing."

"Sure," he said, gentle and easy now that he'd seen her interact with others like a normal person. "Are we going to see your guy now?"

Evie sighed and looked at him for a moment before mentally putting away her fists. They were on the same side. She didn't need to be a fighter here. Chaucer didn't care who came to see him as long as they didn't damage his records. For being a genius, he thought of himself as beyond the law and scoffed at the idea that the fact that he obtained much of his information illegally would be enough to get shut down. "I'm necessary," Chaucer said often, and Evie agreed.

She clicked her tongue and straightened. "Yeah, we're going to see my guy."

"I'll take you back after and you can get your car, okay?"

"Okay." They headed back out, Evie trailing Jay with a reluctance that she knew was now pretty much based on principle. She didn't involve others in her business when she didn't have to, but maybe she could start involving them for reasons other than necessity, like practicality and speed. What a revolutionary thought. Evie picked up her pace.

"Sorry to be so forceful." Jay apologized once they were on the road.

"Sorry to be such a pain." Evie offered back. "It's instinct and experience taking over logic and situation."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm always wary of involving regular cops because we rely on them to do the normal stuff and I want them to be able to do the normal stuff, not have to deal with larger and more complicated issues. But you Intelligence guys, I guess you do complicated all the time, so I might as well be up front with you. I was just pissed off earlier and I also try to keep my people off the grid, you know? They're all sort of non-existent and they like it that way. But I'll work with you."

"You are surprisingly reasonable."

"Sometimes. Other times I'm just ridiculously stubborn."

"Yeah, well, so am I."

"I think that's a cop thing."

"I guess." Jay drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Are your people like you? Or are they CI's?"

"CI's, I guess. Some of them are more legit. We're kind of like the Intelligence Unit, if nobody really knew about you. I get a lot more leeway that you do, I bet. I really shouldn't, but I have some, um, connections that smooth things over for us. And we bring down a lot of guns - big and small - so at the end of the day, the powers that be are more happy than unhappy."

"So you're a criminally involved crime-fighting unit?" Jay smiled faintly, amused by the idea.

Evie smirked right back. "You could say that."

"Okay then." Jay turned where she told him to. "How did you get into this extremely specific unit?"

She unbuckled her seatbelt as he turned the car off, rolling around various answers in her head. Jay didn't prompt her for an answer but let her think about it as they headed into the old bookstore they'd parked next to. "It's a long story," was what she finally said with an accompanying apologetic smile. "Maybe I'll tell you one day."

Jay just nodded, no doubt not expecting much of an answer anyway. "Who's this Chaucer guy, exactly?"

"That's me," Chaucer answered, appearing from behind a row of shelves. He ambled up and peered at Jay, scrutinizing him from behind his spectacles for several moments. "Can he be trusted with my books?"

"Yes," both of them said in unison, though they meant different things.

"Hmm," Chaucer hummed disapprovingly as he lead them to the back. "What's his name?"

"He's doesn't have one."

"Gotta have a name for the guestbook." Chaucer paused in front of the vault door designed to look like a wall with a fantastically weird mural on it. Evie still didn't know if those figures were supposed to be people or not.

"He's a cop, do you want him in the guestbook?"

"Is he gonna be reading my files?"

"Probably."

"Then he goes in the guestbook." Chaucer pointed at the table impatiently.

"Okay." Evie picked up the pen and signed her own name in the book before turning to the bewildered detective beside her. "Blue Jay. How's that?"

Chaucer turned to place his hand against a handprint on the wall. "Very nice. Put it down and I'll get your files. Does the name Ptocheia mean anything to you?"

"No, but I'll bet it means something to you."

Chaucer disappeared and reappeared with a thick folder off one of his many shelves. "Greek mythology. Ptocheia was the spirit of beggary."

"You have a bunch of Ptocheia hanging around?"

"Exactly." Chaucer slid the door shut and placed the folder in Evie's hands. "The only thing I have to give are words. They don't want those. So please tell them to go elsewhere."

Jay's eyes were wandering all over the place, taking in the sort of collection that Chaucer had.

"I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the info."

"You take your nice young police officer and have a good day, and I want those files back in pristine condition."

Evie leaned forward to give Chaucer a kiss on the cheek. "Always. See you later."

Jay made it all the way back to the car before giving her a look that was so full of questions that she had to laugh at the one that made it out of his mouth. "Blue Jay?"

"Too on the nose?" Evie couldn't contain her grin. "If it really bothers you, pick your own name next time."

"Blue Jay." He huffed a little longer before driving away. "You have very odd friends."

"Yep. Now take me back, please."

"Very odd. And you are very odd. What the heck is in that file? Where did that old guy get it? He's not some ancient hacker, is he? That would be very weird. Blue Jay? And what was with the random Greek mythology reference? Does he always do that? You clearly know him very well but I can't remember ever having seen that store before. Does any of this have anything to do with what we did this morning? God, this morning was a long time ago. I'm starving. Are you starving? Let's get food."

"Okay," was all she could say in between fits of laughter. "Whatever. I don't have anything planned for today. Should we get food for everyone? I'll pay. In compensation for being so odd and confusing."

"So weird. So hungry."

Evie started laughing again. Trust an action-packed morning to be the start of a beautiful friendship.


	3. Found Me Out

Evie blew some warmth into her bare hands before answering Adam's call. "They're inside now, where I wish I was. This is not t-shirt weather."

"Tell me you're wearing more than a t-shirt."

"I'm tough. And this hoodie has fuzz on the inside."

"You're gonna freeze to death. You know what the temperature is right now? I'll be right there."

"Adam, you don't have to-," Evie sighed. He was so stubborn sometimes.

Not even two minutes later, Adam pulled up to the curb.

"What, were you just lurking around the corner?"

"Kind of. Here." He handed her a cup of coffee and while she was savoring the warmth he wrapped a scarf around her neck and pulled a hat down over her ears.

"I know I'm like you and Kim's adopted kid, but she and I are the same age."

"You don't look it, except for when you're being scary. And even then you just look like a scary kid."

"Um, thanks?"

"So what exactly was your plan besides totally not freezing out here?"

Evie gave him a withering look while clutching her coffee up to her lips. "I was going to call a sparrow to keep watch and then attend to other business in the area until they left. Then I was going to either beat the crap out of Oscar or ask him very, very politely to tell me what he knows about Murtagh."

Adam pulled his shoulders together, his bones cracking in the process. "And he would just talk? Everyone we've brought it has been exceptionally unhelpful. Is your brand of politeness just more appealing?"

Evie shrugged. "Hardly. But he'll talk. Or I'll beat the crap out of him."

"You can't just go around beating people up!"

"Uh huh," Evie snorted in his direction.

Adam groaned. "I walked right into that one. Anyway, looks like you won't need to call anyone." He watched figures emerge from the building across the street and saunter down the block. "Are you ready for this?"

Evie eyed the group with apathy. "Guess I'll be going in now."

Adam nodded, one hand on her shoulder. "I'll follow them, you take care of Oscar. Try not to beat him too bad, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Evie promised with a small smile. She allowed Adam to look her over once more as he judged whether this was the best plan even though she would go through with it no matter what he thought.

"One more thing," he said finally.

"I will not get hurt."

"I've heard that before. From you, even."

"I'll do my best," Evie inched away from him, "and that'll have to be good enough. Get going."

Adam shook his head as he climbed back into his car. "You're gonna be the death of me."

"Kid, you're in way over your head. You don't know what you're doing."

"No, I really think I do. And you know what else I think, Oscar?" Evie dug her knee harder into his ribs. "I think that you know that too. So why don't you just tell me where Murtagh stashed the girls and then you can get the hell out of my city and I won't take any further actions against you."

"You can't promise that. I'm dead as soon as I talk."

"I can't speak for the blues, but I can speak for Blackout. You'll be free to leave."

"Chicago is my home."

"Not anymore. Where did Murtagh hide the girls?"

"Can you guarantee he won't kill me in retaliation?"

Evie considered, never letting up the pressure. "Is he with them?"

Oscar didn't look at her.

"If he's in the wild, I can't guarantee anything."

"Then I can't tell you anything."

Evie smiled grimly. "Oscar, yes you can. Because if you don't," and here she ran the edge of a knife against his cheek, "no one will be able to guarantee your safety from me."

"You're not a killer." He was grasping at straws. Evie knew she had him. Still, she didn't release him even a little.

"Am I not?" She said it softly, trailing a single finger down his jugular. "Are you sure? How much do you even know about me? If you don't even know about how far I'll go to get what I want," Evie trailed off into a shrug. "Come on, Oscar. Tell me what I want to know."

"You're just like your father."

"Oh no," Evie grinned, maybe a bit madly. "I'm better. People were afraid of him, but nobody trusted him. Nobody respected him. I'm respected and trusted and when I need to be feared," Evie dropped her voice to a whisper, "I can make that happen. Right now, for instance. You fear me more than you fear Murtagh. And now, you'll tell me everything. Won't you?"

Oscar stared at her, clearly unsettled. Even before he deflated and started to talk, Evie knew she had won. It was like a heavy weight in her stomach rather than a lightness for the victory. Although she would never show it, Evie hated to compared to her father, even when she knew she was vastly different to him.

"How am I going to get out of the city without being attacked, huh?"

"I'll make a call. You'll be met at the limits and escorted the rest of the way. If I ever see you again, all agreements between us will expire, understood?"

Oscar nodded before fleeing the room.

Evie allowed herself a brief moment to breathe before standing. Then, less than a moment later, she slumped back against the bar with a gasp, the room around her spinning unsteadily. Oh, this was just what she needed. Gritting her teeth, Evie passed a hand under her shirt to trace over the bandage on her side. Stickiness met her fingers and brought another groan from her lips.

With a shaky hand, Evie pulled out her phone. "Hey, Adam. You still around the corner?"

To her dismay, it was Jay who walked into the building, eyes immediately taking in how she was sprawled against the bar with her hand clutching her side. The blood was slowly trickling out in a meager but steady stream and the effects of blood loss had turned the air around her fuzzy and cold. Evie was far more bothered by that than by the burning sensation along her ribs.

"I thought you promised you wouldn't get hurt." Jay crouched beside her, frowning.

"I didn't," Evie protested before realizing that sounded like a lie. "I mean, this isn't from today. But since I hadn't planned on getting rammed into a table, the idea of it reopening wasn't really forefront in my mind."

"How are you always so eloquent even when you clearly can't see straight?" Jay asked, amused and worried at the same time.

"Just a talent."

After quickly inspecting the wound, Jay didn't even bother trying to help her stand, choosing instead to just pick her up.

Evie accepted it with all the tired angst she could muster up, meaning that she didn't actually protest and instead just let her head fall onto his shoulder like she didn't hate being a damsel in distress.

"Murtagh is keeping the girls at his step-mother's house on Wright Street. There's a hidden room in the basement. You have to break down the wall."

"We got intel that they're already out of the state." Jay's voice above her head was noticeably stronger than hers. It was annoying.

"They're not." Evie let him set her shotgun in his SUV before grabbing his arm. "Jay, they're not. You have to move today or they will be."

"Okay." He put a hand on her cheek for a second, calming her before nodding. "Let me tell the others and then we're going to the hospital."

"Okay," Evie echoed, closing her eyes as he shut the door. She lost track of the moments between him leaving and coming back. His voice asked her to stay awake and she thought she replied.

The next thing she registered happening was him carrying her again. "You with me?"

She hummed into his jacket and knew on some level that his calm voice was the exact opposite of how he really felt. Was it good that she knew him so well, or that he cared so much about her? Did it matter?

When his arms disappeared after setting her on a bed, she rolled in the direction she thought he'd gone.

"I should get back out there."

"No," she said it firmly, though it could barely be heard over the din of hospital noise and people hovering around her. Evie wasn't sure if she wanted him to stay for her own comfort or his safety.

"Is she okay?" Jay asked his brother, because of course Will was there whenever she got hurt. It was just destiny at this point. She was irrevocably tied to the Halstead brothers. That or she was just delirious.

"She'll be fine, Jay, don't worry. Stop being so dramatic, Evie," Will smiled down at her.

She glared up at him, starting to feel better now that somebody had given her morphine. "I'm not being dramatic. You're dramatic."

"That's it, you've found me out."

Jay chuckled in the background and Evie instantly felt lighter after making him laugh. Making Jay smile was easy, but a laugh was far harder to coerce from him.

"Didn't I just stitch this up a few days ago?" Will's smile didn't disappear entirely as he tried to keep the mood light while still being totally obvious about his unhappiness with the way she was so flippant about her own health. "And I distinctly remember asking you to refrain from re-injuring yourself."

"I distinctly remember not promising you anything." MB had gotten her to stay in bed for a whole day, which to most people was to be expected, but Evie had hated every second. Fighting exhaustion was easier than giving in at this point.

"Is it really so hard to give your body the time it needs to heal?" Will wasn't even trying to remain cheerful now.

Evie watched him stitch her skin back together with dismissive interest. "It's not that I can't take the time," she heard herself say. "It's more that I just forget about it." That was a total lie. The choice to rest or work was entirely a conscious decision and Evie consistently chose the latter.

Will frowned. "I doubt that the pain had completely faded."

"No, I mean that it just feels normal."

"It feels normal," Will repeated.

Jay stepped forward, apparently ready to continue where Will had left off. "Just to clarify, what feels normal is you being injured but continuing to work like you aren't, even if you're still in pain."

Evie didn't answer, not that she needed to. The brothers understood perfectly well.

Will continued to stitch in silence until he finished. Jay cleared his throat. "Evie, we don't ask you about your scars-"

"Because you're smart and know that I wouldn't appreciate it," she shot back immediately.

"Because we respect your privacy," Will corrected.

Jay was more blunt. "We know that you've been through hell. Several times. And we don't want to make you talk about it without you bringing it up. But if you're gonna keep being so reckless while you're working with us, I'm gonna start asking."

Evie sat up and let the room spin, hating that she jumped a little when Jay caught her shoulder to keep her upright. "I'm not afraid to talk about them. I lived my past and I'm surrounded by it every day. I'm not afraid to talk about it. Ask whatever you want. However," and she carefully detached Jay's hand from her shoulder, "if you know nothing else about me, know this: I understand. I understand situations beforehand and in the moment. I understand the other side. I understand my limits and my triggers. I know what I can handle and when I have to step away. I knew that I could go in there alone today and it wouldn't kill me."

"Why does that have to be the avoidance point?" Will pointed out. "Ever think about taking back up just because it's a good idea? It's a lot easier to trust you when you act more trustworthy."

"So you'd trust me with myself but not others, is that the problem? I've proved that I can take care of a team."

"Evie," Jay started but Will stopped him.

Evie looked at the both of them, knowing that they both had raised good points. Why was it so hard to make simple concessions when they were the truth? "You're right. I should take better care of myself."

That was all the apology they were going to get and they both saw it. Will nodded, dropped a kiss onto her head and left. Jay watched her wrap Adam's scarf back around her neck and held out his hands to help her up.

"Oh, are you not going to carry me again?" Evie tried to make it sound like a joke, but to her ears it just sounded tired. Accurate.

Jay smiled. "I thought you'd protest it a bit more now that you've received pain medication."

"Probably."

"Also, is that Adam's hat? It's way too big for you."

"Yeah. He would've given me his coat and shirt if I'd let him."

"Sounds like him." Jay kept one arm around her back as they exited the hospital with promises to Maggie about someone coming around to do the paperwork. "He was freaking out a little after your call, you know."

"I'm sure. How come it was you that showed up?"

"Apparently it was less likely that I'd panic."

"But you were, a little, on the inside." Evie looked at him sideways. "Weren't you?"

"You've found me out," Jay agreed good-humoredly. "I care about you. We all do."

"Yeah," Evie responded softly. "I know you do."

"And?"

"Is this a working relationship version of the "I love you" conversation?" Evie sighed, leaning against the window as Jay started the car. "I care about you, too. Happy?"

"Very."

Evie smiled with her eyes closed, knowing that Jay was giving her glances during the drive. "Do we have to go to the station?"

"Yes, we do. Do you have the turns memorized from the hospital?"

"Maybe. And fine, but you're driving me home and if I fall asleep you have to carry me in."

"I thought you didn't like being a damsel in distress."

"Nobody likes being a damsel in distress, Jay. Besides, I would be out of distress because I would be asleep. So like, a damsel in a happy place."

"You are something else."

"You found me out."

Jay snorted, his smile loud even through the dark behind her eyelids. "Don't fall asleep now."

"Okay," Evie murmured, already planning on doing just that.


	4. Calculated Risks

"Are you walking around already? What if you bump into something again? You probably will!"

"Adam, I'm not your actual kid, remember? In fact, it makes more sense for me to adopt you, given that I have been doing this job longer than you have been doing yours."

"That's now how that works."

Evie smiled benevolently and deposited a coffee into Adam's dramatic hands. "Maybe, but I don't care, so I don't think it matters."

"You're a gem," Adam mumbled reverently into his cup.

"But what kind? And don't say diamond."

Antonio reached for his coffee impatiently. "Aren't diamonds the best, though? Wouldn't you want to be a diamond? Rare, sparkly, hard?"

"Are you saying I'm hard, Tony?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you trapping me in a losing game?"

"I like opals. They're my birthstone. Or sapphires. They're pretty hard, too."

"So you wouldn't mind being called hard?"

Adam put his hands out in protest. "Can this conversation like, stop happening? I'm getting very uncomfortable."

"Aren't you always," Evie mentioned dryly, perching on the edge of Jay's desk, shoving aside whatever was in her way.

"Don't do that."

"I didn't knock anything to the floor this time, so stop whining. Can we get back to the important things? I have a corner meeting with some chickadees in an hour."

Antonio raised his hand a little, realized the silliness of that, shook his head and put it down again. "So wait, if sparrows are informants, what are chickadees?"

"Potential sparrows."

"That's what I thought." Antonio sipped his coffee like he wasn't proud of himself for thinking that.

Evie tipped her head in his direction. "Very astute. So is anybody going to tell me why I'm here and not meeting you at some crime scene?"

Voight spoke up from the doorway of his office. "Because they didn't want you scoping it out before we did."

"They, huh? And exactly what terrible outcomes would occur if I had snooped preemptively? I suppose it doesn't matter, seeing as I already did."

Jay started. "You snooped on a crime scene, then came here without mentioning it and you were still going to interview potential informants without investigating further?"

Evie frowned. "Why would I need to? You'd have gotten to it by then and I could've just sent a proxy to check on you guys."

"Who would you have sent?" Adam wanted to know.

"Probably Jade."

"She doesn't have a cool nickname?"

"He has the nickname 'Jade' because he has striking green eyes."

"Oh."

"Mmhmm." Evie knew she could easily let the conversation get sidetracked again and so, to make sure that didn't happen, she pushed herself up off of Jay's desk and cleared her throat. "So are we investigating or what?"

Adam immediately raised his hand, "I call shotgun."

Evie rolled her eyes. "You just say that because you want to work up to driving my car."

"Oh man, you nailed me. Is that a thing that could happen, by the way?"

"Probably not, but if I'm like, dying or something," Evie shrugged, "it could, I guess."

"Great." Adam pulled on his jacket and didn't say anything else.

"Okay! We're moving out!" Evie glanced back over her shoulder to look at Voight. "Right? You do still want me to come to the scene with you?"

"Let's go," he said in response and everyone followed after him.

—

Evie hung up and rejoined the group. "Okay, so Olly says that Roke has been seen near the Montorum building and since we know that they have what he wants, it's logical to assume he's planning on breaking in tonight. We should break in after him, catch him on scene."

Voight's expression didn't change, but everybody knew what he was thinking anyway. "You're calling the shots now?"

"No," Evie said carefully. "I'm suggesting a plan of attack. You don't have to include me." She paused, rolling her jaw. "But, of course, I would love to go. Is Adam still out there?"

"He just called," Atwater said, walking up to them. "Roke is planning on breaking into Montorum tonight to get the files they have on his crew. Adam is supposed to go with them."

Antonio shifted in place. "It'll be dark in an hour. Montorum shuts down at nine."

"I can have Olly meet with Adam so we know what we're up against."

"This Olly is reliable?" Voight asked.

Evie's expression was hard. "If you're asking whether he'd lie for his old crew, no. He's loyal to me. I trust him."

"Fine. Let's make a plan."

—

"We need to get these guys before they exist this level," Jay whispered against the back of Evie's head. "The others should be running into Ruzek and Atwater by now."

"I'm aware of that," she said, shifting her stance a little. "And I have an idea, but I doubt you'll like it."

"I'm not pulling the fire alarm."

"What? Would you stop pretending all of my plans are so extreme? No, you're just going to give me your gun."

"What?"

"Give me your gun. I can take out Roke."

"No way."

Evie turned around in the confined space with some difficulty. "I can take him out, and I can do it faster if I have a gun."

"Why don't you have a gun?" Jay's surprise was genuine and she understood it. She never went weaponless.

"I gave it Adam because we didn't have the chance to grab his. And you might hit Roke if you shoot enough times, but I'm a better shot in the dark."

"I'm not giving you my gun. Just tell me where to aim."

"There's no way you'll be fast enough to him Roke and whoever is with him." Evie said sharply, already so done with this conversation. "We're wasting time. Trust me."

"Every time I trust you I regret it," Jay said. "Let's just go."

Evie inched her way out of their hiding space. "Have it your way. Follow me."

They crept down the hall past various offices, their doors locked. This building had a surprising lack of windows, Evie was grateful for the lack of city lights creating shadows. She stopped before the corner of the intersecting hallways. Uncertain surroundings always felt more reliable in the dark, where she could play things by ear - literally.

Her shoes didn't make so much as a squeak as they glided across the tiles. Evie's breathing was even and calm, not hanging on a beat as she waited for her target to start moving.

There it was, finally, the slight patter of uneven footsteps jogging down a corridor to their right. The exit signs shone small red circles of light on the floor at the end of the hall they stood in, many feet away, but no shadows crossed them. Evie slid along the wall to the next corner and continued to listen. The breathing she heard from further down was odd, like there were two people together. Then someone spoke.

"I can't see nothing, man."

"Doesn't matter."

"We gotta get out of here."

"We can't go back the way we came, the cops are all over it."

Okay, there were definitely two people there.

Evie squared her shoulders, not phased. She reached back behind her and Jay touched her arm, letting her know he was still there. She pulled him around her, bringing up his gun hand while pushing them down both of them into a crouching position as their quarry came closer to their location.

"We never should've let this get so far." The voice held fear. Evie smiled thinly to hear it.

"Shut up." The voice to the left the other swung a little, and Evie knew he'd shoved his companion just enough that he was more exposed. She adjusted Jay's hand and flattened against the wall as he fired.

The answering bullet fire whizzed past them in three successive shots. Jay had dropped to the floor and fired several more times, successfully. The sound of a second body hitting the floor caused Evie to push herself backwards until she was around the corner again. She heard cursing and bodies fumbling.

"Get up, man!"

"I can't, I can't," one voice was rich with pain.

"Shit! I'm out of here!"

Evie paused, feeling Jay's hand on her shoulder asking her if she was okay. She used his own shoulder as leverage and tore down the hallway after the second guy. Her left shoe caught a bit of blood and turned under her, causing her knee to scream a little. It wouldn't be a proper raid if she came out completely unscathed. Evie ignored the crack in her knee as she straightened and kept running. A sixth sense warned her when the guy was turning around to fire again; she dropped, rolled forward and kicked out, catching his shin. When he fell back, she scrambled forward to deliver choice blows to sensitive areas, including his throat. While the guy choked on his own breath, she found his gun with her foot and kicked it away.

"Told you I could see in the dark," she said into the dark.

"Actually," Jay's voice sounded from somewhere behind her, panting a little, "you just asked if I could. That was very stupid."

"Really," Evie deadpanned, squinting as a flashlight suddenly appeared, people appearing along with it. "I thought it was well-calculated on my part."

Jay flipped their captive over and cuffed him. "This is why it's hard to trust you. You're always charging off to do your own thing."

"No, this is exactly why you can trust me, because you know that when I charge off, I always get the bad guy!" Evie turned away and stumbled. "Oh, come on, behave," she complained at her knee, hitting it a couple times with the side of her fist. "I barely twisted you."

"You got injured again?" Jay went from being annoyed to being concerned.

"No," Evie answered. "You know my left knee is grumpy. I just twisted it a tiny bit and it's pretending like it's a big deal."

Jay didn't look convinced but at least knew better than to question her about it further. "Okay."

Evie pulled out her phone. "I'm gonna go reclaim my own gun and check in with Olly," she said tiredly. "I'll see you back at the station, okay?"

"Yep." Jay's answered always got clipped whenever he didn't believe her about something. Evie didn't have time to deal with his problems with her. She had people to see.

—

Evie opened her eyes to see the ceiling of her own house. Blinking the sleep away, she took several seconds to think about what had happened that day and why she couldn't remember coming home. She saw a figure sitting in a chair near the couch.

"Olly?"

Olly jumped and quickly came over to kneel down next to her. "Hey. You fell asleep at the Roost, so I drove you home. Um, 'the baby blue' and 'blue jay' both texted you asking where you were and I didn't know what to say but um, here." Olly pushed her phone into her hands and Evie murmured her thanks while he dashed from the room.

The Baby Blue: thanks for the loan earlier

I thought you said you were gonna show up?

If you don't text back in the next hour Voight is gonna blow a gasket

Srg. Platt said you were probably fine but you should still text me

Or anybody

Blue Jay: you're not here

Get over here

I'm just gonna assume you got held up

Evie rolled her eyes at Adam's persistence and Jay's acceptance of her always being late to things. Granted, this was more of an absence than being late, but still. For all his complaining, Jay actually put a lot more trust in her than he liked to admit. Adam was great, but he hovered. Jay complained, but he let her do her own thing. They both had benefits for a working relationship. She'd never want to be partnered long-term with either of them, but it was good to team up now and then.

"Evie?"

"Hmm."

Olly bit his lip, worriedly. "There's a car outside that has been there for a while."

"What car?"

"Silver, sedan, guy keeps smoking."

"Did you send someone to knock?"

"Yeah. They said they were waiting for someone."

"Meaning me."

Olly fiddled with the strings on his hoodie.

Evie sighed and rolled off the bed onto her feet. "Come on, let's go see what's up."

"Are you just gonna walk up to them? What if it's a trap?"

"Have I taught you nothing? Of course it's a trap!" Evie pulled on her boots and stuck her tracker in the tiny pocket on the inside of the tongue. "No, they'll take a gun. Give me the needles for my jacket."

"I can't believe you just let yourself get kidnapped all the time. How is your skull still intact?"

"Not all of them club me over the head, Olly."

Olly shook his head. "I'm calling your detectives as soon as they take you."

"Good, that's fine. Make sure they're not too noisy about it. And show them what you showed me earlier. And don't worry," she finished, pointing a finger at him knowingly. "I'll be fine. Just do your job."

"I got it, mom." Olly ducked his head - not before she saw the uneasy expression on his face - and ran back into the house.

Evie opened the door and looked across the street at her kidnapper's chariot. "Well, it's not like I was expecting to get a lot of sleep tonight."

—

"From the top," Voight prompted and Olly swallowed nervously.

"After we got home, after I took Evie home, I noticed a car across the street that had been there since earlier today and it doesn't belong to anyone on the street. Evie trains us to notice these things," Olly added, twisting his hands. "Anyway, I told her about it and she decided that even though it was definitely a trap, she was going to go find out what they wanted. Apparently they wanted to hit her over the head and take her somewhere."

"And you don't know where?" Antonio asked.

"I haven't checked yet. I came to find you guys first and make sure that you did this right."

"Did this right? What's that mean?" Adam asked next.

Olly licked his lips. "Evie wanted me to show you this." He pulled a sheaf of paper out of his bag and laid them on the table. "These are the backgrounds of every one of Ambrose's guys. Roke was a small fish. The real problem is her," Olly tapped on one of the pictures, "Cara Sands. She's, uh, she's basically a ninja assassin."

"For real?" Jay scoffed.

"For real," Olly nodded vigorously. "She's the real deal, man. And check out her list of aliases."

"Oh man, I recognize some of these." Antonio ran a hand over his face. "This one, Nicki Alpert, we were after her for two counts of murder but she disappeared completely."

Olly let them pour over the papers while he set up the GPS to find where Evie was being held. "I've got her. She's just outside city limits - north side. Here," he pointed and let Halstead look at the screen.

"Is there anything else we should know before going in?" Voight asked.

Olly didn't take his eyes off the blinking dot on the screen. "If any of you get killed trying to rescue her, Evie will be so pissed. And this isn't a rescue, it's a takedown." He finally met their eyes without flinching. "She got kidnapped on purpose, so make it count."

"God, you sound just like her," Adam grumbled. "Let's do this!"

—

Jay laid out his guy with one last punch before making his way over where Evie was slumped over. He eyed the body lying next to her with distaste. "What the hell is in that guy's face?"

"Needles," Evie replied like it was something totally normal. "You know, like the ones for acupuncture except that these one have a paralytic agent inside."

Jay grimaced. "Poison?"

"Non-lethal. I can't believe you got the better of Cara like that. I could tell she was concussed after I got her with my boot, but still. I was kind of looking forward to a good fight after everything."

"Looks like you've already been in one," Jay commented as he sawed through her bonds. "How much pain are you in?"

Evie leaned her head against the basement wall and closed her eyes for a moment, opening to find Jay looking at her worriedly. "Did you get all of them?"

"They're either dead or in cuffs. Besides your face, where did they hit you?" Jay lowered her arms gently, holding her battered wrists with care. "These could easily get infected. We've got to get you to a hospital."

"You can't let Olly be a part of this, okay? He can't be out in front. We gotta leave him out."

"I can't promise that, but we'll do our best. Can you stand?"

Evie gripped Jay's arms as tightly as she could, which was not really at all and let him hoist her upwards. While her vision remained clear, her legs had zero intention of holding her and promptly buckled. "Jay, you don't understand. Olly doesn't exist yet." That didn't make sense. Evie didn't know how to make it make sense.

"We'll keep him out of it," Jay said non-convincingly, as he was clearly trying to make her focus. "Did they give you anything? Your eyes are darting back and forth and your pulse is racing."

Evie laughed. It sounded strange in her ears, like it was a sound that shouldn't be happening given the circumstances. It probably wasn't. She tried to stop and just ended up toppling forward into Jay.

"Hey, woah, okay, yeah. They definitely gave you something. Was it spice?"

"They like their girls spicy, what can I say?"

"Uh huh, you are a mess." Jay adjusted his grip on her as he called out to his team member. "Adam, can you give me a hand?"

Adam came trotting out of the gloom and immediately attached himself to Evie's left side, helping Jay keep her upright. "She's awfully perky for someone who just got tortured."

"Torture is a strong word, Adam," Evie scolded, still laughing. "I still have all my fingernails."

"And none of your wits," Adam retorted as they made their way up the stairs. "Do you think you have a concussion?"

"Nope." Evie stopped laughing long enough to seem very serious. "My knee hurts, though."

"Your wonky knee or the other one?"

"The wonky one."

"You didn't get shot again, did you?"

"No." Evie looked down at her knees for a moment, considering. "Just kicked."

"The paramedics will check you out." Jay ended the conversation by sounding incredibly strained and Adam didn't comment and Evie couldn't comment, so nothing else was said until she was on the gurney in the back of the ambulance.

"Olly?"

"He's fine, Evie, don't worry about it." Adam's voice floated to her and she wondered briefly why she was wondering why he was the one to come with her and then she stopped wondering anything after that because the adrenaline wore off and everything started to hurt. A lot. A really, really lot.

—

"Well, she's incredibly lucky," Will prefaced and everything breathed a sigh of relief. "No concussion and the drug they gave her did little to damage her systems, mostly it just made her compliant. She does, however, have a multitude of contusions as well as several larger cuts that required stitches. Somehow she escaped without any broken bones as well, but the bone bruises on her ribs are still nothing to sniff at. Her knee is swollen and the tendons are strained, so I don't want her walking for at least a week. If she shows up to work before then, I expect all of you to send her home immediately. I know that she's incredibly hard to force into anything and she's possibly more stubborn than my brother, but I mean it. Doctor's orders, do not let her work. And if any of you know of ways to keep her resting for longer, please do so."

Jay clapped Will on the shoulder and they shared a brotherly nod. Adam sighed into his hands and Kim grinned at Kevin. Voight nodded and left the room, already done with the situation. Antonio approached Will. "Is okay if we go and see her?"

"I'll be sedating her so she can sleep, so make it quick. She'll likely be discharged tomorrow as long as there are no complications, so if you need to discuss anything, maybe do it then."

Antonio nodded and walked down the hall the few steps to Evie's room. He knocked on the door frame, smiling when Evie looked up. "You've got a great kid."

Evie smiled back as Antonio sat in the chair next to her bed. "Olly was a tricky one. Nobody trusted him after he played double agent too many times, but he never once betrayed me when I didn't expect it."

"So, he did betray you, but it was okay because you knew about it?" Antonio asked in disbelief.

"Sure. You gotta go into situations knowing what's most likely to happen. Olly started to know that I could predict him, so he'd betray me in such a way that it was a heads up. I knew he was learning to trust me and after I successfully bargained him out, we could trust each other implicitly even when we lied. He's smart, too."

"Is Olly a nickname or a codename?"

"Both?" Evie suppressed a laugh. "It's short for Oleander. That's a poisonous plant. But, it's useful if you know what you're doing."

Antonio nodded slowly. "I get it." He looked up as a nurse walked in and stood. "I should go and you should get some rest. Who do you want to pick you up tomorrow?"

"I'll have someone-" Evie stopped. Antonio just looked at her over his folded arms. "Not Adam," she said finally.

"Okay." Antonio leaned down to plant a kiss on Evie's head. "Good night."

Evie was silent as she watched him leave. The nurse smiled and said, "He cares about you."

"They all do," Evie said, sighing into her pillows. "That's the problem."


	5. Talk About It?

"So uh, have you talked to anyone?"

Evie looked up from the files spread and stacked around her on the floor, the pen in her hand tapping absently against a page. "Talked to anyone about what?" She gestured to the only vacant spot near her, but Adam shook his head, choosing instead to lean against the door of the small meeting room. "People have been dropping by to ask me how it's going, and I keep telling them it won't go any faster just because they keep asking."

Adam snorted, a sympathetic smile appearing and disappearing too quickly. "No, I mean, uh, about killing that guy today."

"Oh sure, I had to go through all the paperwork, same as anybody else."

Adam with his arms folded was about as intimidating as a teddy bear, but Evie chose not to mention it. "Come on, you know what I'm saying. I know you're not a cop, but, shouldn't you talk to someone? First time I ever shot someone everybody pestered me about seeing psych so much that I wanted to punch something. I know now that it's smart. You can't just say you're fine and have it magically be true."

Evie tilted her head to peer up at him sideways. "So are you asking me if I'm fine or offering to talk?"

"I'm asking if you talked to anyone, but clearly you haven't." Adam always lost patience with her faster than any of the others. She knew that keeping his temper would come with time and ignored his tone.

"Well, I'm fine, I don't need to talk and I really should get back to this."

"This wasn't your first time." Adam didn't say it like a question and Evie knew it wasn't one in disguise, either. He wasn't looking for confirmation. So what was he looking for?

"It wasn't," Evie acknowledged, waiting for him to get to the point.

Adam finally gave in and slid down to sit in the available floorspace near the door. "Still."

Evie went back to perusing the file in front of her, knowing that Adam's short attention span wouldn't let him stew for too long over the questions he wanted to ask. She wasn't going to prompt him. If he wanted to know something, he could formulate the question himself.

"You're acting like nothing happened."

"No, I'm acting like we're in the middle of a case and I've got a lot of files to get through."

"You shot someone and he died. That doesn't bother you at all?"

"I'm not gonna pull the "no-choice" card, because that's complete bull. But yeah, he was about to kill someone, so I made the choice to shoot him first. It was the right call." Evie looked up long enough to catch Adam in a hard gaze. "And just because it was the right call doesn't mean I was happy about it, but I stand by it." She rubbed at her face and closed the file in front of her, tossing it onto a stack before reaching for another. "So no, I'm not bothered because I believe in the choice I made."

"You know, if it were me, you'd be telling me to talk to someone."

"How many people have you killed, Adam?" Evie's tone was sharp. "You are still very new to this whole thing and you should be talking to someone when you make a kill. Because it doesn't actually happen that often. You'll shoot a lot of people but most of them won't die because of it. When it happens, it's important to process it in a healthy manner."

"Right, and that's what you're doing now, is it?"

"I have killed a lot of people. I know how to process it."

"How many?" Adam's eyes, usually soft, were piercing as he asked the question. "How many is a lot?"

Evie shook her head. "I am not going to continue this conversation, not now."

"Why not?"

"Because we're both getting angry, and when I tell people that I trust about my past, I don't do it in anger." Evie opened the new file and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Adam was doing the same thing, she could hear it.

"You treat me like I'm some child who can't handle hard truths, but we do the same thing, Evie." Adam's voice was softer now, less insistent. "I'm not going to freak out because you tell me some horrible secret. Or any secret. Or anything."

Evie sighed again, suddenly so tired. "I know you're not. But, Adam," Evie looked up to see him avoiding her eyes, "most of my secrets are horrible. I'm not afraid to tell you, any of you. It's just that you don't need to know. My past is my own burden and I've gotten comfortable carrying it."

"You can share it if you need to, you know."

Evie half-smiled. "I know."

"But you won't," Adam said, finally looking back at her. "You don't believe you need to."

Evie didn't falter. "I don't," she agreed, her soft tone echoing his. "You have to accept that."

He half-smiled too. "I guess I do. But I'm not gonna stop worrying about you like I have been. It's what I do for the people I care about, okay?"

"Okay," she smiled, fully. "And I'm gonna keep complaining. Status quo, right?"

"Right." Adam knocked on the door a couple times and left.

Evie dropped her smile as soon as he was gone. It wasn't a lie; she didn't feel like she needed to share her burdens or her secrets if it wasn't going to help anyone. Helping herself didn't count. Unless lives were on the line, nobody benefited from knowing who she had been and what she had done.

It wasn't a lie. Most of her secrets were horrible.

—

Evie dropped the heavy stack of files into Chaucer's waiting hands with no small amount of satisfaction. "When are they going to invent technology to keep files in digital warehouses and use holograms to read them all?"

Chaucer frowned disapprovingly before moving into the vault. His voice echoed back to her from inside. "That probably already exists somewhere, but it's perfectly respectable to do it the old-fashioned way." His face popped back into view, one hand adjusting his spectacles as he peered at her owlishly. "You want to read your books as holograms, too?"

Shuddering, Evie folded her arms. "No way, that's just going too far. I love turning the pages."

With a nod of his head, Chaucer disappeared again. "I rest my case."

Evie smiled fondly to herself. Chaucer always got huffy when anybody mentioned digitizing over physical copies of information. She was half-tempted to mention that physical files could easily be lost, stolen or destroyed, but Chaucer wasn't above holding grudges and Evie didn't feel like being on his bad side. She held her tongue.

Chaucer reappeared finally with a single file in hand. "Here's the full list of drugs currently being regulated on the streets as well as all the bigger dealers and anybody else I thought was important to mention."

"Thanks. And you're right, real is better than hologram."

"Don't patronize me, eaglet. Get back to work." Chaucer's gruff tone was contradicted by the pat he left on her head. Evie bit back a grin and left.

—

Adam had his head resting on his folded arms as he slouched at his desk watching Evie fold sticky notes into paper swans. "Teach me," he said for the third time in an hour. When Evie didn't respond, he shuffled in place, rearranging his limbs before settling down again. "C'mon, we're both benched and not allowed to go anywhere. Teach me how to do that."

Evie didn't even look at him while she answered. "You've been watching me this whole time. Why didn't you start to do what I did? Do I have to talk you through it?"

"You sound like MB, all bored and superior."

"I do not. She does it better."

"That's true." Adam lifted his head and picked up his own sticky note. "Start again, I'll follow this time."

"Nah, I'm done."

"Come on!"

Footsteps on the stairs made them both pause in hitting the other and instead swung their chairs around to see the boys clear the landing.

Antonio immediately veered over to take stock of the paper swan collection covering Jay's desk. "This is what you've been doing while we've been chasing down your guy?"

"Well," Evie folded her arms, Adam mirroring her pose straight after, "you left us behind. I would have happily joined the chase, but somebody said I had to stay here to babysit Adam."

"Hey, no, I'm here babysitting you," Adam protested.

Jay chuckled while sitting down and gazing at the army of swans in front of him. "She was definitely babysitting you, Adam. Am I allowed to get rid of these?"

"I hate you guys." Adam turned back to his own desk.

"What's with the origami?" Voight stopped to look at them too. Evie wouldn't have guessed that sticky note swans would have been enough to pause everybody in their mad case rush.

Evie spun in her borrowed chair while Antonio gave her a look that said to give it back. "Babysitting is boring. Also, no, you are not allowed to get rid of them."

Jay sighed and refrained from sweeping the notes into the garbage. "Don't you want to know if we got your guy?"

"Obviously you got him, or you'd all be grumpy right now. Who gets to question him? Can I watch?"

"Atwater is, and yes."

Evie shot up and walked to the stairs with Voight calling after her. "Do not interact with him!"

"Fine!" Working with Intelligence was such a pain at times, with all these rules about not working cases where there was a personal connection. With Evie, many of her cases had a personal connection. That's what happened when you had a background like hers. It was also why she loved having the job that she had, where those rules didn't apply to her. But now she was constantly being pulled in by Intelligence to help them with every other case and that meant playing by their rules to a certain extent. Alright, she wouldn't interact with Jared. She'd just skip out altogether and work her own angle.

A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind and Evie just managed to not elbow the person in the face. "Jay! Seriously?"

"Sorry." Jay didn't look sorry at all. "This is not the way to the interrogation rooms."

"I know that."

Jay was still holding her arm so she couldn't leave. "Where are you going? If you leave now I'm going to throw away all your birds."

"Wow, what a threat. I'm shaking." Evie pulled her arm away. "Voight is not going to let me do anything. So, I'm going to follow up with some other things and now that you've got Jared, it should be fine to let me out."

Jay looked at her, clearly torn. "I guess I just missed you. Text me if you need backup."

"If I need backup, I'll use people who don't answer to someone else," Evie said meaningfully, backing away. "But you can text me if you feel like letting me back on the case. I'm here to help."

"Yeah," Jay nodded disbelievingly. "Uh huh. Get out of here." He rolled his eyes once and headed back upstairs.

Evie rolled her eyes too even though he couldn't see her. What a waste of the day so far. It was time she got some actual work done.

—

"Of all the idiots in Intelligence, I generally consider you to be less of one," Evie snapped, still holding Antonio against the wall. "I expect this from Adam and occasionally from Jay, but you? Tony, you weren't even trying to be stealthy." Evie pushed her hair out of her face with one hand, the other gripping Antonio's shirt tightly.

For his part, Antonio didn't try to escape, but let Evie yell at him for following her instead.

"I have a job that doesn't involve you, you know. And I'm trying to do it since you decided that even though I know more about Jared than whatever you can find in his email or call history that it would be better for the case if I just didn't participate. So, fine, whatever, you guys don't need me to do your job, you'd been doing it just fine before we ever met, just like I'd been doing mine."

"You planning on letting go of me any time soon?" Antonio raised his hands in surrender. Evie released his shirt and moved, letting him slide away from her. "You've been on edge all day. I was worried about you."

"Voight didn't send you to fetch me?"

"I don't think he where you are as long as you're not 'interfering.' Besides, you're right. You have your own job to do. Anything I can help with?"

Evie ran a hand through her hair, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment as she calmed herself down. Antonio didn't deserve the sharpness she usually reserved for Voight and other nosy customers. "There's a pub on Edwards Street called The Wayfarer's. Do you know it?"

Antonio seemed no worse for wear as he straightened his jacket absently. "Doesn't ring a bell. Why?"

"It's mine."

"Okay." Antonio sounded unsurprised. Evie realized that they must all be pretty used to her unpredictability at this point and something like this was just too banal to bother getting worked up about. "That where you're headed now?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." Antonio fell into step beside her. "So what's the deal about this place? It's not where all top gangbangers hang out like they're not trying to kill each other, is it?"

Evie shot him a look sideways, taken aback by his shrewdness. Then, when he just looked back at her questioningly, it became apparent that he'd just made a very accurate guess.

Antonio caught on. "You're not serious. You have a pub where people who would normally kill each other on sight just chill like they don't hate each other? How the hell do you manage that?"

"I have rules," Evie shrugged. "If they don't follow the rules, they get warnings. Get enough warnings, you get banned from the premises. It's a little Switzerland, a no man's land for kids in trouble, people who need favors, informants and the like. People go there when they're trying to get out of the city or when they're trying to negotiate a trade. It's also a place where you volunteer information or help, nobody is going to coerce it from you. Same for everybody, unless you break the rules."

The expression of pure skepticism on Antonio's face was the typical response from anybody she ever told about the place. It had be experienced to be believed. Sure, it wasn't always quiet. Somebody was always willing to break a rule or destroy some property, but overall, it had been a success. Evie was proud of the place, of the haven it had become for so many. Nobody liked when cops came sniffing around, of course, even though they knew that Evie worked for the law and was seen with cops often. It was just harder to convince someone that their secrets and safety were safe with people who had higher allegiances.

"You're going to want to hide your badge."

Antonio did so without immediate comment. Evie appreciated it. She knew there would be questions later - there always were - but Antonio at least could hold himself back until an appropriate opportunity. Adam, Jay and even Kevin tended to just ask their questions upfront, something that drove Evie a little mad.

"Halstead didn't throw away your birds," Antonio said suddenly, while they waited to cross a street. "Adam wouldn't let him, also."

Evie's brows raised first in surprise, then in wonder and then because she couldn't help the smile on her face. "I don't care if he throws away my sticky note swans," Evie said, laughing. "I won't be offended."

"You know Adam loves to get offended on your behalf."

Evie groaned a little, still chortling. "He does. He's killing me."

"Evie," Antonio said, stopping short before finishing whatever the rest of that thought was.

She hummed, listening.

He held up a single hand, like he was expecting an outburst. "Don't kill me for asking."

"I will not kill you for asking a question, Tony."

"Are you really okay? After yesterday, I mean. And look, I know that you've been through some stuff, but I've seen a few different sides of you and you're not made of stone. Maybe you've been through this before, but it's never a bad idea to just take a step back and talk to someone. I know if it were me, I'd hate to hear this, but I'd be grateful someone cared enough to say it when I needed to hear it. And I'm not gonna tell you to do anything, 'cause I know that wouldn't work, but if you ever need to talk, I'm here for it. That was more than I was gonna say," Antonio said, a rueful chuckle making him duck his head for a second. "Just tell me: are you okay?" He looked at her so earnestly that Evie couldn't be mad at him for mentioning it.

She smiled, a softness for the detective overcoming her usual amount of frustration when someone tried to get her to talk, about anything. "I'm okay."

"Okay," Antonio echoed, his smile just as soft. "Just wanted to be sure."

"Thanks," Evie reached out to squeeze his hand.

"Anytime," he promised, squeezing back. "Is this it?"

Evie nodded as they stopped in front of The Wayfarer's. "Come see my stomping grounds."

Antonio squared his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight. "This ought to be good."

Rolling her eyes, Evie opened the door. "And Jay says I'm dramatic."


	6. Can't Save Them All

The Wayfarer's smelled like wood and wine. Evie loved it. The lighting was dim, warm, and the walls were paneled a rich cherry. Large lounges sprawled out on either side of the entry hall, but Evie took them straight through to a desk further down. The man behind it was polishing an antique pistol, his scruffy, gray beard obscuring his face until he look up. Instead of a greeting, he simply nodded and pulled out a notebook, setting it down on the desk in front of them. Evie pulling it closer and rifled through a few pages, taking note of the names listed. Antonio stood beside her, looking around without saying anything, waiting for her to make the first move. Again, Evie felt grateful for his ability to utilize patience and timing.

"Hey, Marty," Evie pointed at one of the names as she spoke. "I though the Williams brothers weren't in town?"

"Came back for the Raynor funeral." Marty's voice was just as rough as his appearance. "No drunken antics, so we're good there."

Evie nodded, setting the notebook back down. "Where's Cade? I need to ask him some questions."

Marty peered up at the two of them under bushy eyebrows. "In the back, cataloging. Is this about the Dalton kid?"

"That's right." Evie flashed Marty a quick smile, tapping the desk in thanks before heading around the corner and following that hallway down to the end, opening the last door on the right. Antonio followed her into the room where a young man was scribbling in a book with crates of glass bottles stacked around him. The room expanded past the shelves behind Cade, but Evie wasn't there to ask Cade about the stock.

"Hey."

Cade looked up briefly, nodded and returned to work. Evie shut the door behind Antonio and cleared her throat. "Since when are you so industrious about your work?"

"Since I figure I might not have a job very soon?" Cade still didn't look at her as he talked, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand.

"Cade, I need to ask you some questions and I need you to give me honest answers."

"Yeah? Who's your friend?"

"He's my friend." Evie stuck her hands in her pockets, shrugging. Cade copied her, right down to the unimpressed expression he pulled. "Fine, this is-" Evie wrinkled her nose at Antonio who gave her his best " you do what you want" face. Turning back to Cade, Evie fought back a smile as she finished, "This is Kingbird."

"Are you serious? What is with you and birds? And when do I get to be one?"

"So are you mocking my choice in nicknames or wishing you were cool enough to qualify?" Evie grinned.

Cade shook his head. "I don't know. Whatever. Nice to meet you, Kingbird. Go ahead, ask your questions. I don't know how much help I'm gonna be. I wasn't with Jared last night. Maybe I should've been. I might've been able to stop him."

"Or you might be dead," Evie pointed out. "The 'what-ifs' aren't important. What is important is finding out who's really calling the shots."

"Jared still runs with the Wheelhouse group. He's been bringing in the girls."

"We know that," Antonio spoke up for the first time. "What we don't know who in the Wheelhouse decided to go from drug running to calculated murder."

Cade leaned against the edge of the table, running a hand through his hair nervously. "I don't know who could authorize that."

"Give us a middle man, anybody."

"Where is Jared in all this? Did he really kill that girl?" Cade said it like he already knew the answer.

"We can't talk about that with you." Evie said, not unkindly. "Unless you know something about it."

Cade folded his arms. "I told you, I wasn't with him. I was here; Marty can vouch for me."

Evie stepped closer, demanding his full attention. "That's not the question here, Cade. We want to know who could've put him up to this. Give us names."

"I've only got one name: Murtagh."

Evie immediately changed her expression, warning bells going off like crazy. Blood pumped through her heart up to her brain, colorful spots flickering at the edges of her vision for a moment. "He was out of town." Even to her own ears it sounded feeble and afraid. Evie straightened her back, tightened her jaw. She refused to appear afraid in front of a subordinate or an equal. Fear was good for keeping you alive in disasters, but in the calm before the storm, fear was the last thing Evie needed to be feeling.

Cade didn't appear to have caught on to her quick change in temper. His hands rubbed up and down his jeans in a nervous tick. "Yeah, and I don't know if he's back for sure, but he's still in the game. Jared wouldn't shut up about him, about how much he admired the guy. And there was his contact, 'Blue,' but we know how many of those there are. Just once I wanna find a guy who goes by 'Orange.'"

Evie couldn't find it in herself to smile at that. Murtagh had been out of her sight range for the past several weeks, her sparrows not giving her anything that even hinted at him being back. It was bad news all around if he was, and even if he wasn't, Murtagh was perfectly capable of running things from a distance. Evie worried her lower lip as she considered the possibilities surrounding Murtagh's potential return. It was Antonio's hand on her arm that brought her attention back to the present.

A shuffling sound brought her head up to see Cade standing straight. "Look, give me an hour. I'll make a couple calls, check in with some people who might know something."

"If none of my sparrows know something," Evie began tersely before stopping herself. "No, yeah, go ahead. Text me when you've got something."

Cade touched her shoulder briefly as he head out, but Evie had already closed herself off from feeling anything besides a strategic calm.

Antonio blew out a long breath when they were alone. "I have questions."

Evie nodded, leading them back down the hallway. "Yeah. I know. Let's get a drink. You can ask what you want."

—

A hot cup of tea could soothe an abundance of worries, but as Evie sipped morosely at her chai latte, the worry she was feeling only seemed to grow. Antonio watched her, eyes sharp and focused like he was drilling into her head to read her thoughts before she knew them. "Ask your questions," Evie said, not looking up.

"First, why Kingbird?"

"I like them. Thought it suited you. Like Cade said, I like birds."

"What are you?"

"I'm Evie." She drew on the tabletop with a finger. "Certain people call me certain things. I have a lot of names."

"Okay," Antonio said like he'd pursue the issue later, which was typical for him. "Next, the Williams brothers?"

"What about 'em?"

"The Williams brothers that like to go around stealing cars and blowing them up while intoxicated?"

"Yep."

Antonio tapped his own fingers on the table in that absent, torn way he had when he wanted to go deeper but it was hard to know what was more important at the time to go deeper about. "Can I trust that you'll be following up on them?"

"I'm a little busy to bother with car bombs, but I will have people deal with them, yes." Evie gulped at her latte, wishing it was still hot enough to burn on the way down. She didn't like the way her emotions were getting ahead of her. She wasn't like this. After everything she'd been through with so many demons of the past cropping up to give her hell, Evie hated that her emotional control was mostly limited to how she viewed threats to herself. When a danger kept popping back in to say hello to innocent after she'd failed to curb it, well, then her emotions became dangers also.

"Fine." Antonio sounded unhappy but Evie dismissed it as emotion of the moment. The two of them were very much alike in that sense. Neither was much bothered by the other saying things in spite or distaste because they knew that it was borne out of temporary emotional instability rather than genuine anger toward the other. "How about this Cade guy? He used run with the Wheelhouse?"

"Yeah, casually, or as casually as you can get with this sort of thing. He was mostly responsible in being a front. When I met him, he was trying to not get involved any deeper even though he was pressured to do so."

"So you just talked him into working for you instead?"

"Basically." Evie met Antonio's gaze of suspicion with a small smile. "I may also have bought out his debt."

"How much was that?"

Evie folded her arms and settled back in her chair, pointedly silent.

Antonio wasn't fazed. "Look, we're all more than a little curious to know how you're always "buying people out" to get them out of a bad spot. You drive a regular car, wear regular clothes and never talk like you come from money, but then you drop these little hints and it's driving us all a little crazy, you know?"

"We've known each other not even three months, Tony. You're lucky I even let you meet my people so often."

"Well, that's because you trust me, trust us, right?"

Evie kept her eyes on him while she formulated an answer to that. Sure, she trusted them to do their jobs and to be good people, but there was a lot that she wouldn't trust them with all the same. Trust had layers and she'd peeled back very little of herself so far. Saying no would be a lie and Evie wouldn't lie to Antonio. She might refuse to give up information, but she wouldn't lie. "I trust you."

Antonio sighed, looking away. Even with only his profile to go on, Evie knew what he was thinking. When Antonio was in the company of people he trusted, he let his emotions hang in the air and wasn't ashamed of them. Evie could feel his disappointment in her reluctance to share more with him. Still, when he turned back, his expression showed understanding and patience and was absent of pity. That was something Evie appreciated more than intrusive questions. Pity was like a knife; it broke any trust that had developed. Antonio had never pitied her.

"One more question."

"Shoot."

They shared a short, silent exchange about word choice before Antonio asked, "Will Jared turn on Murtagh?"

Evie didn't even have to think about it. "No. Murtagh, he kind of saved Jared a few years ago. Granted, he trapped him in this lifestyle and tricked him into doing things he never would have, but before that, Jared was lost. Murtagh gave him a purpose. A really shitty one," Evie chuckled mirthlessly, "but Jared feels like he owes Murtagh everything. He won't flip."

"He's gonna go away for a long time."

"I know."

Antonio was watching her again, still without pity. His tone was more curious than anything else. "You care about him, don't you?"

"I care about all of them, Tony. Doesn't mean that I won't take sides. Jared dug his own grave and he'll have to lie in it. Save who you can, but if you can't, don't." Evie met Antonio's eyes one more time. "Because you can't save them all and everybody gets to make their own choices. I don't want to see any of them go down, but I don't get to decide that. They do."

"That's smart."

"Yeah. It sucks, too."

"It does," Antonio replied, matching her tiredness with a hollow agreement. "But we didn't get into this job because it was easy. We got into it to do good, right?"

Evie rubbed at eyes so she didn't have to see the gentle way he was regarding her. "Right." She stood up decisively. "Let's go do some. And then tonight some real drinks, since you vetoed them earlier."

"We're working! You usually drink while working?"

"Of course not." Evie kept a straight face. "I just like keeping you on your toes." She led them out of The Wayfarer's with Antonio grumbling behind her.

"Oh, you don't ever have to worry about that."


	7. Honesty

"So, I never asked you," Adam started without preamble when she reappeared in the 21st with Antonio.

The latter groaned quietly, shaking his head in Adam's direction as he sat at his desk. Evie swung her head around slowly, languidly rolling her eyes toward Adam's completely open expression. "It's probably good that you haven't," Evie snapped, not harshly, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with Adam's immaturity.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"But I know you, and I know the types of questions you tend to ask. They usually result in my glaring in your direction and you pretending you're unaware of your severe lack of tact." Evie walked across the room and knocked on the door frame of Voight's office. "We're back to square Murtagh."

Voight looked at her, impassive as always. Evie had gotten better at reading the small changes in expression, the tiny quirk of an eyebrow or shift of the shoulders that signaled his thoughts in motion. "We knew he wasn't gone for good, didn't we?"

"We did," Evie affirmed, leaning against the frame tiredly. "What did you get out of Jared?"

"What did you get out of whoever you went to see?"

"Voight. Please, I know Marty called you. Cade is looking into this for me and I'll tell you when I know anything. So, Jared?"

"I figured you'd already know."

Evie shut her eyes for a moment, frustrated by Voight's need to play constant games with her. It was how he tricked people, got them to talk, kept them guessing, she knew that. She knew that he kept things from his own team if he felt like it. It wasn't something worth getting angry about, but Evie could feel her patience - already worn thin by the events of the day - falling to pieces right there. "I don't know anything about what he's up to now, only what he's done and where he's been in the past. Since he's already done time for that and it's information we are both now privy to, I don't see how it's relevant to discuss it. Is there anything you want to tell me that might help me and therefore this case?"

"I don't believe there is." Voight nodded toward the door.

"Fine. I'll text someone when Cade gets back to me, but consider me off the case." Evie moved to leave but stopped herself. "And please don't ask for my help unless you're actually interested in receiving it. I have my own work to do; I don't need to be sitting around waiting for you to let me be useful." She stalked away, breezing past Adam as he geared up to ask another stupid question and Antonio nodding his goodbye.

This was why she wasn't police.

—

Evie pinched the bridge of her nose, keeping her eyes closed. "It's been a day. One day. Twenty-four hours." The sound of shoes scuffing the sidewalk only increased her frustration. "What do you want from me?"

Jay's voice was calm and collected, which didn't help to soothe Evie's temper. "Olly came up to me today."

This piece of information prompted Evie to open her eyes. "Olly? But I sent Jade to drop off the information Cade came up with."

"Yeah, he left it with Platt. Olly approached me separately."

Evie leaned back against the brick wall of The Wayfarer's exterior, impatient. "And told you what, exactly? That I was orchestrating an undercover op in the Wheelhouse and you might be interested to know about it?"

Jay looked sheepish for about a second before returning to his normal cool. "Yep."

"Okay, so what?"

"Were you not going to inform us of this?"

"Why would I?" Evie stuck her hands in her pockets, so very done with this conversation. "This isn't regarding your case. This is regarding Murtagh. Voight is concerned about him, I'm concerned about him, all of Chicago P.D. is concerned about him. What I do with my unit is not your business. If I think you need to know something, I'll tell you."

"Right." Jay was looking at her like he was disappointed with what he saw.

Evie really wasn't sure what it would take to get him to trust her the way Antonio seemed to. He didn't have to agree with everything she did or approve of her methods, but he could at least acknowledge her skill and experience. She'd had his admiration in the beginning, but that had apparently worn off and now he only ever looked like this, like she was a bomb that could go off any second and all he wanted was to get away. So then, why had he specifically come looking for her?

"What did you think you would gain from confronting me about this?"

"I don't know, some honesty?"

Evie snapped upright at that. "I have always been honest with you."

"You don't always tell us everything."

"Your own sergeant doesn't tell you everything!"

Jay's jaw shifted as he clearly tried to repress his frustration. "What would you know about it?"

"What do you want from me!?"

They stood looking at each other, shoulders stiff and eyes hard for a long moment. Jay regarded her guardedly; Evie gazed back openly.

"When you killed that guy," Jay started, voice low, hesitant.

Evie raised her brows a little, questioning.

"I saw your face." Jay shook his head a little, remembering the scene. "Adam was right there with Jared and I was coming around the corner. You still had your arm up and the guy was on the ground next to you, bullet in his brain. Adam shouted, asking if you were okay and you just got up, slowly, and looked at me." Jay's eyes shone with sincerity. "I saw more emotion in your face that I'd ever seen, and then I saw you push it back." Moving a couple of steps forward, Jay carefully put his hands on Evie's shoulders and she allowed it. "Are you okay?"

The silence that settled around them had weight. Evie could feel it creeping up her body like a snake, ready to strangle the life out her if she let it. "This is what's going on with you? Never mind all the police work that we need to be dealing with, never mind Voight's distrust and or Adam's immaturity, all you want to know is if I'm okay?" The incredulity of her response sunk through the air between them, slicing the silence but doing nothing to dissipate it.

Jay tightened his hold on her shoulders. "That's right. I want you to look me in the eye and say that you're okay. Not that you have to be or that you will be once this case is over. I know Murtagh is just another in a long line of terrible people you've had history with and there's no way you can sideline your personal stake in things indefinitely. Something else is going on with you and it was triggered when you fired your gun and somebody died."

"My list of personal stakes is long and chaotic. Every single day I'm confronted with my past. What makes this time any different?"

"Maybe the difference is that someone is making you deal with it."

Evie barked out a hollow laugh at that. "Are you serious? Jay, killing doesn't feel good, even when it's a bad guy we're taking out. It's still a life and I hate ending it. Of course that's on my brain. However," and she shrugged off Jay's hold and backed away from him, "this isn't the first time and it won't be the last."

"This is what I'm talking about, Evie. You say killing has weight but then you dismiss it like it's nothing. You're not okay with it and you don't have to pretend to be."

"I'm not pretending! Don't act like you really know me. You don't know everything I've done, everything I've been through. I think I know myself enough to say when I'm okay or not."

Jay folded his arms. "So you're always not okay, is what I'm hearing."

"No, I'm always okay, it's just that my 'okay' is a sight less appealing to anybody not me."

"What did they do to you?"

Evie looked askance at him for a long moment, considering whether she should even answer that. What had Ouroboros done to her? What hadn't it? She'd spend less of her life as a free woman with the ability to choose her own good and bad than she had as an expendable cog in the relentless machine of a criminal empire. Even less time she'd spent being able to actually fight back against that empire. Just like the symbol, Ouroboros was a cycle of serpents, and never-ending wheel of heavier and heavier proportions. For all the fighting she did against it, the snakes only seemed to grow bigger. She knew exactly strong they could be, how ruthless. She'd been one of them.

"What do you think?" Evie finally responded, soullessly. "They ruined me. They took me apart before I was finished growing and put me back together the wrong way. They sold my soul without my consent and taught me to not fear death or pain, only abandonment and disloyalty. They taught me to kill and they tried to teach me to like it. I never did, but that didn't mean they stopped trying."

Jay appeared to not have any kind of response to that.

"I'll send Olly over with the info about the UC op when it's ready. You're not invited to join or share it with your commanding officer. If you feel you cannot hid this information, feel free to refuse it. I have to get back to work and I really don't want to see you right now." Evie brushed past Jay without another work and he didn't stop her or say anything.

There really was nothing to say.


End file.
